What is LAN agent and when to use

4 min read · LAN agents (internal network)

In short: A LAN agent is a small program that you install on any machine in the client's internal network. From the internet it calls ePulz.io, receives the list of IPs it should check, pings them locally and sends the results back. Thanks to this you can monitor even devices that cloud monitoring cannot reach (NAS, cameras, internal servers, local web applications).

When you need a LAN agent

Monitoring of NAS and home/company servers - Synology, QNAP, custom machine with ZFS
IP cameras, access systems, alarms in a shop or office
Internal web applications - Grafana, Jira, GitLab, Bookstack behind a firewall
Network infrastructure - router, switches, AP, VPN gateway
IoT devices and gateways - Modbus gateways, MQTT brokers
MSP scenario - managing monitoring for multiple clients with standardized deployment

How it works

In the dashboard you create an agent and receive a token plzag_... (shown only once).
You run the install command on a machine in the client's network (Raspberry Pi, mini PC, NAS, Docker host).
The agent asks ePulz.io for tasks every 30 seconds and performs local checks.
It sends the results back over HTTPS - the same connection that every browser uses.
On a device state change, ePulz.io triggers the standard notification (e-mail, Telegram, webhook).

Important security note: All communication goes only outbound from your network (outbound HTTPS to port 443). You never need a port forward on the router, a static public IP or a VPN tunnel. For the IT security of the client's company this is typically as acceptable as opening Gmail.

Three types of LAN checks

Type	Target	What it detects
lan_ping	192.168.1.10	The device responds to ICMP. The cheapest check.
lan_tcp	10.0.0.50:5432	A specific port is open. Even if the host is running, the service (DB, SSH, ...) may be down.
lan_http	http://nas.local	An HTTP/HTTPS application returns 2xx/3xx. NAS GUI, internal dashboard.

What happens when the agent goes silent

ePulz.io checks every minute whether the agents are sending a heartbeat. If an agent does not respond for more than 5 minutes, you get both an e-mail and a Telegram message: "LAN agent X is offline". When the agent comes back, you get a back-online notification. Thanks to this you will not get the false impression that everything is running just because the agent has stopped sending data.

Get started

In the next step we show the agent installation and creation of the first LAN monitor.

Next step:

Install the LAN agent on a machine in the client's network.

Agent installation ->